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The second year wide receiver was suffering from muscle cramps in his legs early in training camp when assistant coach Brayden Coombs recommended a home remedy that he used to cure the same problem while playing high school football at Colerain.

The magic elixir? Pickle juice.

“I’m not going to take too much credit for it because as far as I knew, this was common knowledge,” said Coombs. “He was cramping for three days in a row or something like that, so I mentioned pickle juice to him and he said, ‘Nah…I’m eating bananas and drinking Gatorade.’ Finally, one day they pulled him out of practice and he was so frustrated because Marvin can’t stand to not be out there that he was willing to try anything.

“Marvin said, ‘What do I need to do?’ I said, ‘Do you like pickles?’ He said, ‘No, I hate pickles.’ I said, ‘You’re not going to like this then. Go get a big jar of them. You can eat the pickles if you want. If not, throw them out, pour the juice in a cup, and drink as much as you can stomach the night before practice. Then drink some more in the morning.’ I actually like pickles so I never minded it.”

According to a 2010 story in the New York Times, research supports the notion that pickle juice prevents muscle cramps although there are a variety of scientific opinions for why it works. Marvin Jones isn’t concerned about the reason – only the result.

“I hate pickles, but if they can take away cramps, then I’ll learn to love them,” said Jones with a smile. “Now I have pickle jars in my locker, so I drink the juice and it’s helped. One day I stopped doing it and I started to get a cramp at the end of practice so I decided that pickle juice was going to be my thing.”

Soon Marvin could even be endorsing them.

My friend and former Fox 19 colleague Joe Danneman recently did a story about Jones being on “the juice” that led to some surprising phone calls.

“I’ve actually heard from a couple of pickle companies,” said Jones. “It’s funny how fast news travels. It was on the news and I received contact from pickle companies. I guess I’m going to start a new trend.”

“I’ve got to get at least 10 percent!” said Coombs when told that Jones had heard from pickle companies. “But that’s good. If it works and he gets a little extra benefit, I’m all for it.”